Published 4:00 am, Thursday, March 21, 1996

An Alameda County judge on Tuesday granted Chevron Corp. the right to continue using a pipeline that San Francisco city attorneys argue could rupture during an earthquake and contaminate the drinking-water supply for 2.5 million Bay Area residents.

Superior Court Judge Mark Eaton issued the order after one of his clerks heard arguments from attorneys for the oil company and the city of San Francisco, which is attempting to block the flow of oil in the pipeline crossing city-owned land.

Chevron seeks to gain ownership of the San Francisco-owned land the pipeline runs over, arguing that it has the legal right to condemn the land and take possession of it.

The city argues that the risk to the Bay Area's drinking supply is unacceptably high because the pipeline runs so close to San Antonio Reservoir. Officials say the line should be moved off city property.

Eaton supported the oil company's right to continue to pump, stating that the oil products being transported are necessary to the continued supply of fuel to Bay Area businesses and consumers.

The order also allows more time for the parties to negotiate if they choose to do so. The court set April 17 to hear further arguments.

"What we want is for Chevron to stop the transmission of petroleum products through the pipeline until the company conducts a full environmental review of the risks posed by the continued operation of the pipeline to the city's watershed, the San Antonio Reservoir and the Alameda Creek, which supplies aquifers which are under control of the Alameda County Water District," said Deputy City Attorney Andrew Schwartz.

At the April hearing, the city plans to present additional evidence about the dangers posed by earthquakes and landslides, Schwartz said. The city hopes to persuade Eaton to drop his order permitting continued use of the pipeline and to get him to dismiss Chevron's attempt to lay claim to the pipeline land.

"Chevron's position ignores the risk to our drinking water," Schwartz said. "The company has not offered to stop the pumping while it does an environmental review -- and we think that before Chevron can take the city's property, it has to complete that review under the law. That review might conclude that the risk is as significant as we think it is."

Mike Libbey, spokesman for Chevron, said the judge's ruling found that the pipeline was necessary for Bay Area customers. "This really just allows us to continue serving Santa Clara County customers," he said.

Libbey added that the judge's ruling "gives the company time to make a good-faith effort to negotiate with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to move a section of the line farther away from the reservoir."

In court, Chevron attorneys also argued that "the pipeline has been used for 30 years, and the company doesn't need to perform an environmental review in order to move to take ownership of the land," Libbey said.

Chevron wants to complete studies in the area to determine the nature of the danger from earthquake faults in the area, Libbey said, adding that the oil company does not believe the risk posed by the pipeline is great enough to require immediate cessation of pumping.